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5 things you didn't know about the Northern Lights

You may know that Churchill, Manitoba is one of the top places in the world to view the northern lights, but here's a few things you may not know.

1. The different colors of the northern lights are caused by collisions between electrons entering the earth's atmosphere and gaseous particles. The colors depend on which gas is involved and how high in the ionosphere the reaction takes place. Oxygen causes green lights at lower altitudes (60 miles above the earth), and red lights at higher altitudes (200 miles). Nitrogen particles causes blue or purplish-red lights.

2. As mentioned above, aurora activity is caused by electrons that enter the earth's atmosphere, but where do these electrons come from? From the sun! That huge ball of fire and gas goes through an eleven-year solar cycle which is measured by the number of sunspots (magnetic storms on the sun's surface) which are visible from Earth. The more sunspots we can see, the more solar flare energy is being released into space, eventually making it's way to earth and into our atmosphere causing beautiful aurora activity.

3. The Northern Lights also go by the name Aurora Borealis, a name coined by Galileo in 2619 after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas. However, did you know there is also an Aurora Australis? Also known as the Southern Lights, it is the southern hemisphere counterpart to the aurora borealis, and is best to view from Antarctica. When the solar activitity is at its maximum, the lights are at times visible in New Zealand, southern Australia, and southern Chile and Argentina.

5. Speaking of space, Earth isn't the only planet with Aurora - NASA has shared photos of the lights captured on Saturn and Juptier. In fact, auroras have been observed on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Mars. That leaves only Mercury as the lone planet where an aurora has never been observed. In addition, Jupiter’s moons, Io, Europa, and Ganymede, have been observed with lights as well.

Can't get enough of Churchill's Northern Lights? Located directly beneath the Auroral Oval, it is one of the best places on earth to watch the sky dance. Get your Northern Lights fix by checking out explore.org's Northern Lights Cam, which is mounted on the Churchill Northern Studies Centre.